Republic of the Philippines

Mindanao State University

Iligan State of Technology

Iligan City

CASE STUDY: PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE, AND SOCIO-EMOTIONAL

DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

The Child and Adolescent Learner and Learning Principles

1st Semester S.Y. 2020-2021

Giselle Dangdang

Subject Adviser

By

Jamila L. Abdulgani

Nova Jean Andrada

Dhyzell Joy Carpentero

Honey Bee Q. Lominquit

Espegil B. Ponce
Introduction

Middle childhood is the period of life that begins when children enter school and last
until they reach adolescence. During middle childhood children gain access to new settings and
encounter pressure that present them with distinctive developmental changes. Evidence shows
that experiences in middle childhood are exceedingly important for a child’s well development
and learnings. How a child develops during this time affects future cognitive, social-emotional
language. It helps them prepare for a later success in life.

However, there are 2 possible outcomes that results as ones proceed in middle childhood
stage depending upon the way of supervision of the people around them—it could be negative or
positive outcome.

Physical growth can be easily observed and measured with simple tools such as a scale or
measuring tape. However, mental, emotional, social, and moral growth are more difficult to
measure and appreciate. Though children do clearly progress over time in their development of
these fewer physical attributes, the ways that these changes reveal themselves are subtle and
complicated.

Middle Childhood gives children the opportunity to develop competencies, interests, and
a healthy sense of confidence that they can master and control their worlds.

Background of the Respondents

This research consists of five (5) respondents. Four of the respondents includes the

researchers themselves and the other one remaining is not. They have already passed the age

bracket of middle childhood and the information stated are based on how they can remember

themselves on that stage or in other words, looking-back method. The following are the present

age of the respondents: one 17, one 18, two 19, and one 20 years old. The respondents are

exposed on different environments and are not related to each other. Being exposed on different
environments during middle childhood molds an individual in a unique way but there are aspects

that one have similar experiences to another.

Respondents Experiences

Physical Development

Respondent Age at the Time of Experience

Experience
Jamila 6-9  Began losing teeth (especially
the front tooth).

Nova 6-12  Lose and gain weight.

Dhyzell Joy 6-9  Began losing teeth (especially

the front tooth).

Sheilou 12  Enlargement of breast and

growth of pubic and armpit
hairs.

Espegil 6-12  Lose and gain weight.

The table above shows that some of the respondents have experienced loosing teeth starting

from the age of 6. These teeth at this age are called “milk teeth” that are supposed to be replaced

by a permanent tooth as they grow older. Losing and gaining weight is also observed during

middle childhood hence children tends to become a picky-eater resulting to nutrient deficiency

and in worst scenarios might become malnourished. Other children also eat too much of what is

considered as normal and if not corrected they would become obese. During the late stages of

middle childhood, usually at the age of 12, puberty occurs and some physical changes are

noticeable like the enlargement of breast for the girls and the growth of pubic hairs.
Cognitive Development

Respondents Age at the Experience

Time of
Experience
Jamila 6-12  Loves to arrange her pencils or crayons
according to their height in her pencil case.
 Loves to separate her pencils from crayons.
 Elimination of ego-centrism.
12
Nova 6-12  Can read and write.
 Capable on defining things, and can easily
recognized and recall information.
 Can easily catch up the lessons.
 Can do assembling. Unpacking the pieces, and
connecting the parts.
 Capable on recalling sounds, pictures and
language.
Dhyzell 6-12  Loves to arrange plates in dish organizer
according to their sizes.
 Separates undergarments from clothes.
 Compete with her her sister who got more
amount of coke in the glass.
 Noticed that her perspective and opinions are not
the same with others.
Sheilou 6-10  Fighting over sharing of food with her siblings is
common.
 Learned the concept of reversibility.
Espegil 6 - 10  Knows how to sort out things according to their
colors, sizes, names and etc.
 Learned how to work on kitchen. How to use the
utensils and the cooking processes.
 Learned how to make projects on her own
concepts and ideas.
 Knows when to be selfish and selfless.

The table shows the experiences and the cognitive development of the respondents. Most of

them have acquired the skills that are expected to be developed by the middle childhood stage

like being fond of organizing, sorting, arranging and separating things based on their order,
colors, and shapes. This is then what Piaget called as “seriation”. It is the ability to sort objects in

an order according to their size, shape, or any other characteristic. Separating things is what

Piaget called as “classification”. The ability to group objects together on the basis of common

features. This behavior or skills can be acquired if the child have a support system who teaches

how things should be and this support system a child has must have a lot of patience and be able

to understand that a child cannot get an instruction right at one shot. Though there are some

children who are considered as fast-learners but children learning acquisition varies depending

on their mental capabilities. A child memory is also getting sharper if it is practiced regularly by

giving memory games with a person who evaluates the child’s performance may it be a teacher

or the parents.

A child in middle childhood can already know how to do basics household chores like

cooking and can partially or fully understand how to use some kitchen tools properly. The sibling

rivalry over sharing of foods is always present but as they grow this thinking will slowly change

by learning the concept of what Piaget called as “conservation”. Piaget defined conservation as

understanding the quantity, length, or number of items is unrelated to the arrangement or

appearance of the object or item.. Understanding other people’s perspective is a higher way of

thinking by a child at middle childhood. Sometimes, children always like to get what they want

without considering other factors or without thinking holistically.

Socio-emotional Development

Respondents Age at the Time of Experience

Experience
Jamila 7  Focused learning how to read
English and Filipino.
 Make friends with her
 classmates.
6-12  Friendship is a must.

Nova 6-12  Socializes more with children.

 Loves to play outdoor games
with her friends like running and
playing.
 Focused in developing her talents
like drawing, and especially to
dancing.
Dhyzell 6-12  Eager to learn everything.
 Includes herself in any activities
in school.
 Started to make friends with
others.
Sheilou 6-12  Loves to dance and participates
actively in events.
Espegil 6 - 12  Loves to go out and play with
other kids.
 Want to excel in class.
 Joined sports and camping
activities.

The socio-emotional development of middle childhood has a common goal of building a

child’s self-esteem and being able to build strong relationship with other people. As stated in the

table above, most of the respondents loves to socialize and play with their friends outdoors.

Playing outdoors is also good for the well-being of a child to exercise his body that is why most

teachers handling P.E. subject must plan their activities appropriately according to the child’s

physical development needs. Since children in this stage are seeking for their independence,

conducting camping activities is a great move in order to test not only their skills but also testing

how can they respond to situations that they have never encountered of before. Being naturally

curious, a child might ask you repeatedly about one thing to a point where it can become

annoying to an adult. It is best to give them realistic answers or let them experience something

that they are really curious about in order to fully satisfy their curiosity.
 Problems Experienced by the Respondents

Age at the Time of

Respondents Experience
Experience
 Physical - Underweight
Jamila  Cognitive – None
6-12  Socio-emotional - Bullied and friendship over
happens a lot.
 Physical - I am struggling with my growth and
skill development specifically my physical
features where, I am too small and my age
doesn't fit with my body.
Nova 6-12  Cognitive - Lack of understanding in terms of
language and cognition due to not enough
exposure to experience and social connection.
 Socio-emotional - I have an issue with peer
relationship. I don’t have any courage to try
new things due to fear of social interaction.
 Physical - I always got bullied because of my
skin color.
 Cognitive – It’s so hard for me to easily
Dhyzell 6-12 understand the lesson and accept mistake and
correction.
 Socio-emotional - easily got insecure or jealous
to the things that other children has.
 Physical - Slow growth in terms of height.
 Cognitive - Having hard time coping up with
school lessons especially advanced math
Sheilou 6-12 problems and also having troubles
understanding what she read and cannot spell
the words correctly.
 Socio-emotional - Friends fighting that leads to
back-stabbing causing trust issues
 Physical -I am too skinny and having tanned
skin. I always get bullied with this aspects.
 Cognitive - I always have a hard time with
memorization and I don't have the confidence to
Espegil 6-12 do an activity on my own accord. I decide
recklessly most of the time.
 Socio-emotional - Not interactive with my
neighborhood. I always feel down whenever I
have achieved something but doesn’t get
appreciated.
 Challenges or trials are part of development and the data gathered in this table showed
the problems experienced by the respondents. In the physical aspect, the common problem
experienced is being bullied due to some physical attributes that are not considered as normal by
some kids like having a dark skin tone, being short and being skinny. Looking at the cognitive
part, the respondents are most likely having troubles coping up with school tasks like
memorization, solving math problems and spellings. Making reckless decisions is also present in
this stage since children are not fully aware yet how to think in a holistic manner. Giving
corrections and accepting mistakes is also a challenge because children might interpret your
actions differently. If a child is getting bullied, the socio-emotional aspect is also affected. The
responses of the respondents are usually having a misunderstanding with its peers that leads into
a fight or friendship over. It is normal for a child to feel shy but if a child will not overcome its
fears, it may develop into a feeling of insecurity and being down most of the time.

Proposed Solution

Parents are the primary observers of a child. They know well their children because they
are the one who raised them. Thus, with this in mind, teachers should conduct a survey on the
parents of his/her students about the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of
their children. Regardless of the hurdles and roadblocks inherent to the process, it’s impossible to
ignore the proven importance and benefits of parent surveys. While every school system is
different and each educational program has a variety of unique goals, the overall purpose behind
parent surveys (and their subsequent importance in the learning environment) is relatively
consistent. The primary goal of many parent surveys is to collect and understand parent opinions,
perspectives, attitudes, and perceptions towards the school, their students, and education in
general in order to improve the learning environment in general or specific ways (International
Survey Associates, n.d.).

In connection with the importance of children development in the teacher-learner

relationship, with the help of the parents, educators can assess their students and most
importantly, understand their behaviors which will lead to nurturing teacher-learner relationship.
In accordance with the Learner Centered Psychological Principles (Learner-Centered Principles
Work Group of the American Psychological Association's Board of Educational Affairs (BEA),
November 1997) under “Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors”, the successful learner, over time
and with support and instructional guidance, can create meaningful, coherent representations of
knowledge. This cannot be possible without the fully understanding of teachers about their
students; and this also cannot be possible without the help of the parents. In addition, under
“Developmental and Social Factors”, learning is most effective when differential development
within and across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains is taken into account.
Furthermore, learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and
communication with others. Imagine without parents’ involvement, teachers would have
difficulty in handling their students. Educators concerned with the growing problems of school
dropout, low levels of academic achievement, and other indicators of school failure are arguing
for more learner-centered models of schooling. Thus, Learner-Centered Psychological Principles
provide a framework for developing and incorporating the components of new designs for
schooling and for educational providers to build programs, assess their performance and improve
upon their effectiveness. We, the researchers, believe that conducting survey on the parents about
the about the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of their children is the key in
improving the teacher-learner relationship and achieving the learner-centered schooling.

Recommendation

In accordance to Piaget theory, under the concrete operational stage, the researchers
recommended that children under this stage must be properly guided and encourage to further
develop their cognitive development. In this stage, children can easily be influence by society
and environment. The teachers and parents play an important role in child’s development.
Having a healthy environment will develop a healthy mind and emotion of every children. While
having a negative environment can greatly affect the child’s decision and upbringing.

With the right exposure of the child, this will help to be ready in facing other challenges
of life, will develop the sense of creating the right decision and having the courage to solve
problems that may arise in the future.

Since motivation, learning opportunities, and type of teaching, is vital to teachers and
students, the researchers recommended to apply learner centered principles to all learners from
children, to teachers, to administrators, to parents and to community members involve in our
educational system. Through these, the learners develop their skills that help in their professional
careers soon. While the mentors and members involve in our educational system can be trained
in this approach in applying the principles to the learners with the better learning experience.

Conclusion

A child growth undergoes different stages to fully come a well grown individual. Its
attributes and abilities that molded him or her it based upon the experiences encounter through
different problems that gives impact to his or her development on physical, cognitive and socio –
emotional. Through the interpreted data, it shows that the common problem meets by the child
on his or her middle childhood were being bullied through their appearance, struggling to cope
up with school, and making reckless decisions.

Studying Middle Childhood is vital since it takes an important role in the developmental
of a child in building relationships and roles in the society as they prepare for the adolescents and
adulthood. Middle childhood is taken into account the amount of life between the ages of 6 and
12 years old. During this point, a child is learning skills which will help them to develop
relationships throughout their lives. It isn't just a romantic relationship that they are learning to
develop; they're also learning about social interactions and relationships, like making friends.
They'll also find out about different roles and responsibilities and carry these items with them
into their adult years. As a result, these years are extremely important, and a child should be
prying some different pathways and learning what their future will hold.

In connection to the Learning Center Principle, a child can cope through different
strategy to overcome problems without affecting his or her study despite the struggles faced
through the help of the relationship build by the learner and teacher. The Cognitive and
Metacognitive Factors help an individual to fully cope up through these factors in order for them
to think holistically in decision making in or out of the school setting. Another factor that help an
individual is the Motivational and Affective Factors, which aims to motivate and have an
affective impact to the individual despite of facing difficulties, one can still learn through these
processes. Developmental and Social Factors allows individual to gain knowledge through the
influence of socializing by the people around her. Lastly, the Individual Differences Factors
provide help to the individual by having a various way to learn and understand.
 Therefore, the presence of Learning Center Principles gives impact to the child’s
development and growth in the various aspects. The different factors under the LCP will identify
the different ways a child will cope up in his or her studies despite of the situations in the
environment one belongs. However, struggles will always be there, and as a teacher in the near
future, it is also in our hands how to handle situation. It is for us to guide our students to their
difficulties; on home and school. The relationship build by the learner and teacher should be take
part not only to the two party but also with the presence of parents or guardians, the school
administration, its peers, and the environment they live in.